Brewer's Art Resurrection

This popular Baltimore-area brew is finally being bottled by Brewer's Art, and my buddy Brian sent over a bottle. I've waited about a week and this might be the perfect night to try it. Anyway, you can see the pour. First of all the label is awesome. They are obviously called Brewer's ART for a reason. Their label for Ozzy, which I had a while back, was slick too.

Resurrection pours lighter than I had pictured in my mind. It's more of an orangish, looking maybe brown-orange in the glass where it is dense. They figured out how to make a long lasting head because that baby sat there for a while, which I've never seen before in any of the chalices I have at home that are shaped like my Brewer's Art one. The smell was sweet and raisiny. It tastes somewhat the same, but the sweetness is cut pretty well by a chocolate malt, lightly roasty note. There's some Belgian yeast phenols way in the back there too. Just really really good as far as taste goes. I've noticed a lot of beers that try to be sweet are way too sweet. This one is sweet enough but keeps it interesting. Top notch beer.

New Years Eve Beer Blogging

Most people go out on New Years Eve, but I never do. I just like to stay in and watch football all day. Plus, in the last 5 years we've always had a big bowl game to attend in the morning so I like to get to sleep early. Today I sat down for lunch with the early bowl games. A Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere Farmhouse Ale sounded like the perfect thing, at only 4.5% ABV. This beer has a couple really nice characteristics to it. It starts with a huge lemon tang, but finishes with a nice yeasty earthiness as in a standard saison that hasn't been put into barrel with funky microbes (like Jolly Pumpkin does).

Taking a beer break for now, looking forward to something nice and dark tonight.

The Verdict Is In

Sculpin is a great beer.

Russian River Night

My friend Steve took a trip this weekend to visit his girlfriend's family in Vacaville, and that is good for me because he made the ~75 mile trip over to Santa Rosa to pick up some growlers. Today he decided to open up a Sanctification and IPA growler. I'm still sayin, I like the regular old "Russian River IPA" more than Blind Pig IPA, although Blind Pig is still a damn fine beer. He still has a couple growlers which we will take for our Rose Bowl tailgate on Thursday morning.

Sancitifcation was very strange. This has been my favorite beer since I discovered it in the summer of '07 in Santa Rosa and I had it a few times since then. This batch however, which I think is batch #3 or 4, is crazy funky. Before it was just very light and sour, and I could not really describe it any other way. No fruit, not much funk, just nice and sour. This batch though was crazy funky. The minute we poured this thing it smelled like something straight out of a barn, I guess. Very nice, still. I actually think I like it better the other way though, with less funk.

Russian River IPA is still awesome. If you think about it, it's Russian River's fourth most popular IPA. Younger, Elder and Blind Pig are all more popular than regular old "Russian River IPA." I wish breweries on the East Coast could brew something half as good as Russian River's 4th most popular IPA, so that when I'm out there some day I can enjoy a fairly good IPA. They are still ways away though.

Las Vegas Roundup

The first thing we did when we got into Vegas at around 11am was go to the Crown & Anchor pub off the strip just west of UNLV. Kevin has told me about amazing crowds here for soccer games as early as 4 in the morning but there was no soccer on while we were there. Instead we had some Cider & Blacks (pic 1) and I followed up with a Pilsner Urquell (pic 2). We hung out for a little over an hour and then headed to our next destination.

The next stop, The Freakin' Frog, was only a street or two away. We didn't initially plan on going here but it was so close so why not? They specialize in beer and whiskey apparently. I've heard about them only for their beer. They advertise having a ton of beers, but their taplist is pretty small... maybe 15-20 on tap, with only about 12 of those being craft. I hear they have a great cellar of bottles that are fairly expensive. Kevin and Xavier had a Stone 08.08.08 (pic 1) and I had a Rogue Charlie (pic 2) which was listed as an American Strong Ale. That it was. 11.5% ABV, it tasted pretty much like a barleywine. Not my favorite style but it was still good enough, I didn't have a problem finishing it. The Freakin' Frog was interesting. They have a small grill right behind the bar where they were cooking burgers. Lots of TV's on the walls for us to watch bowl games as well. It's a very big and empty feeling sorta place, and it was empty when we were in here. We had our 1 beer and left ("this place is dead anyway")

The next quick stop was at the Hofbrauhaus for some food. I've been there a handful of times now, and although I can't say it's my favorite place ever it's not bad for a nice German beer and their portions of food are huge. I ordered up their Dunkel and Xavier got a liter of the Original. I also had a big chicken sandwich and fries which probably were not a good choice when it came to our stops later in the day. Kev made the smart decision and went with a pretzel.

After Hofbrau we headed over to our hotel which was quite a ways off the strip next to our main destination (Rosemary's Restaurant). It was only about 5pm at this point and we didn't have dinner reservations until 8pm, so we headed to Big Dog Brewing Company which I was told I must go to by my friend Brian. He said they do a great job with their hops over there so I was pretty excited. As it turns out, they do a pretty good job with their hops. This place was filled with smoke (which we are not use to in So Cal) so that obviously got in the way of my senses but I was fairly pleased with their beers. My sampler included their dunkelweizen, red ale, pale ale, IPA, and DIPA. I thought all were crafted pretty well, with only minor metallic notes going on in them.

Last but not least we got to Rosemary's Restaurant. I didn't take any pictures here, though I probably could of. It's a pretty classy establishment. Definitely fine dining. I had a prix fixe meal that consisted of a panko crusted crab boulettes which I paired with an awesome glass of Orval (served in an Orval chalice), Ceasar salad, and veal tenderloin which I paired with their recommended Chimay Premiere (red). Although I sadly could not finish my veal, it was one, if not the best plate of meat I've ever had. The Ceasar on the other hand wasn't my favorite, I've had better at Delmonico and even Flemming's. The chef/owner is Kevin's friend and supplied us with some nice amuse bouche's before the meal and then with a assorted dessert plate which contained my favorite, chocolate bourbon balls. Towards the end of the meal we were so stuffed it wasn't funny.

After Rosemary's we were pretty stuffed and it had a been a long day, so we went back to the hotel. We didn't even touch the strip this trip, which I don't have a huge problem with. On the way out of town we stopped and got some pizza at Grimaldi's, which I had never heard of but was filled in real quick that they were one of the best pizza places ever created (the menu proclaims themselves as "the most award winning pizzeria in the US" and their slogan is "The pizza that made the Brooklyn Bridge famous"). Anyway, it was some pretty awesome pizza. Crust was thin as paper and nice and hard from the coal brick-oven. That was pretty much it for the trip, after that it was a painful 6 hour drive home in mostly bumper to bumper traffic.

Beer Weekend - On The Road In Vegas

Heading out to Vegas with my friend Kevin and his buddy Xavier early this Saturday morning to do some beer'ing. I've been to Vegas many times (it's only a 3 1/2 hour drive) but have never really sought out beer stuff other than the Hofbrauhaus cause my friends were never really interested in that. This time we are hitting at least 2 of Vegas' best beer destinations.

We're leaving Saturday morning and when we get there probably around noon we'll go to my friend Kevin's favorite local watering hole, which I've never been to, called the Crown & Anchor Pub. He often goes there to take in Manchester United games and drink cider and blacks. Their beer list isn't great, but there are a couple options to satisfy me I'm sure.

After that we'll head to Big Dog Brewery which my friend Brian raved about when he was there a few weeks ago. What I'm most excited about is that he gave their hoppy beers very good reviews. Hopefully they'll have their pale ale, IPA, and DIPA on tap.

The main attraction is where we are headed for dinner. Not a whole lot of people know about Rosemary's Restaurant, which constantly wins awards for their amazing food, and contains a beer list (pdf) which will make you drool (at least for a gourmet restaurant). Every item on the menu has a wine and beer pairing suggestion. Take their roasted filet of beef which they recommend to pair with Chimay Blue, or their roasted bacon & tomato crusted swordfish which they recommend pairing with Tripel Karmeliet. Kevin knows the chef there so I'm sure we'll be shown a great time.

There probably won't be enough time to squeeze in a Freakin Frog visit, so I'll save that for next time.

[EDIT: Oh yeah, Brian, I think the first thing I'll order are the Panko Crusted Crab Bouletts which they recommend to pair with Orval. mmmmmmmm] :)

Beer in the Back of My Nana's Fridge

As we got over to my Nana's on Christmas eve afternoon, I looked for a beer to go with her homemade pizza before dinner. Behind the soda was some O'Doul's. Next to the O'Doul's was one bottle of Pilsner Urquell. NICE! Though I think it was at least a year old I still poured it and enjoyed it immensely with her awesome pizza. I don't think I've ever really had a fresh Pilsner Urquell anyway, so it wasn't like a huge dropoff.

Lost Abbey Inferno

Sitting around here researching my next homebrew recipe which will be a Belgian Golden Strong Ale collaboration with my friend Brian from Baltimore, and I decided to pop the cork on a nice example of the style. The Lost Abbey Inferno is a Duvel-like beer. There is a lot of Belgian yeast influence on this beer and it leans more toward the spicy/peppery side, with only a little fruitiness. Very good, very easy to drink, even at 8.5% ABV. Lots of breweries make good examples of this style; Avery Salvation, Russian River Damnation, Brewer's Art Ozzy, Bruery Levud's, Alesmith Horny Devil and definitely Inferno are some of my favorites.

Christmas In A Bottle

Here is my obligatory, cliché Christmas post. I don't know about all these winter warmers, spiced beers etc. I like most of them but all I know is that there is one beer that I think of when the phrase "Christmas in a bottle" is used - and that is Pliny the Elder. It pairs well with 24 hours of A Christmas Story on TBS.







I also came home to a great Christmas box on my porch which had traveled all the way from Baltimore. My friend Brian sent the newly bottled and ever-so-popular-in-the-Maryland-area Brewer's Art Resurrection, and a bottle of their finely done Belgian strong pale ale Ozzy. As much as I've seen Brian and everyone else in the Maryland area rave about Resurrection, a Belgian dubbel, I am chomping at the bit to try it.


Merry Christmas to all those who somehow find themselves coming across this blog and share their thoughts on the greatest of beverages.

Cool, I Won Something

For the 2nd year in a row, A Good Beer Blog hosted their Yule Beer Blog Photo Contest, this year in conjunction with Stonch's Beer Blog. Apparently there were ~550 pictures submitted, with ~40 places for prizes. Donated prizes came from breweries, to online beer shops, to pubs and many others. I submitted a few pictures and the one pictured above ended up winning a Shipyard travel coffee mug, and Shipyard aluminum water bottle.

The picture is of Downtown Brewing's IPA in San Luis Obispo. I should have known the picture would be special, right after I took it the Angels came from behind and torched the Yankees with 8 runs in the inning to win the game. Downtown makes a fine looking IPA. It tastes great too. I got lucky with this picture, with the light shining in and making the beer glow.

They will be announcing the grand prize winners later today so go check out the remaining photos.

Growler Night Gone Wrong

I invited a couple friends over tonight to share a growler of Alpine Nelson. On Thursday I went to the brewery to fill 3 Nelson growlers and 1 Pure Hoppiness. The Pure Hoppiness was for my friend Kevin, and the 3 Nelson's were for me. So tonight I go open up a growler labeled with "Nelson" and what does it turn out to be? You guessed it, Pure Hoppiness. Now of course one of my favorite beers ever is Pure Hoppiness so it's not like I spit the beer out, but I was expecting Nelson and wanted my friends to try Nelson. This growler was also for a different friend so being that I poured 3 glasses of it right away, we had to drink it. Now I will not be able to give this Pure Hoppiness growler to my friend. The taste was obviously different, but as you can see the color is definitely different, with Pure Hoppiness on the left and Nelson on the right.

I'm pretty understanding of human error, and I really like the people down at Alpine. They've been nothing but nice the handful of times I've been able to get down there. I just hope my other 2 growlers left are still Nelson.

Sorry Kev, good thing I bought you a bottle of Pure Hoppiness too, at least.

Big Props to the PB Tap Room in Pacific Beach, CA

I have never even been to this place but here is why they get 3 thumbs up: They easily have the best online tap list I've ever seen. I give props to anyone who has an online tap list, but this gets extra props because it's so awesome:

• List of every beer that is currently and on and what is on deck for each specific tap when first keg blows. Some online tap lists have an "on deck" section, but you don't know which one is going on next. Here you do.
• It actually lists what fraction of every keg or cask is left. AMAZING. I haven't seen anyone pull off that feature in an online tap list.
  
• It's updated every 5 minutes by Google Docs

The first two features are what make it pretty awesome. This place is a little far away from me, and I don't even usually get that close to it when I make trips to San Diego, but this might force me to stop in the next time. I've also added them in the "Online Tap List" panel on the right.